If all goes Ikaria’s way, a quick injection might become the key to limiting muscle damage when a patient suffers a heart attack. Ikaria Inc., a critical care-focused biotechnology company based in Hampton, is developing a product designed to be administered by injection within 90 minutes of acute myocardial infarction. But the injection - known as I K- 5001 - isn’t a drug, according to the Food and Drug Administration, which classifies it as a medical device. Daniel Tasse, Ikaria’s CEO, said when the IK-5001 solution meets with calcium in the heart muscle, it turns from a liquid to something more like a gel, and acts like a cast supporting the heart muscle. Weeks later, when calcium levels decrease, the “cast” goes back to its liquid state.
